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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 11 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 32 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 53 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 74 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 95 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 116 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 137 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

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2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS Photo 158 of 9The 2018 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS starts at $82,950 including destination. The GTS gets a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum making an extra 15 hp for a total of 365.

2018 Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman GTS first drives: The sweet spot?

Porsche's latest 2-seat sports cars are knocking on the 911's door

December 12, 2017

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Porsche builds driver’s cars. Some kids, including myself, even chose to be 911 fans over the more exotic Lamborghini and Ferrari options. The GTS package on the current 911 Carrera, now on the 718 Boxster and Cayman, is what we’re calling the driver’s package. If money is no object, these are the options you should choose. But since money is an object, let’s get that pain out of the way.

The 300-hp base Boxster convertible starts at $58,450. The 350-hp Boxster S goes up to about $70,850, and this 365-hp GTS model starts at $82,950. The same-power-output base 718 Cayman starts at $56,350, the S is $68,750 and the new GTS model is $80,850. That’s a wide spread of prices topping out just $10K below a base 911 Carrera. The recent knock on Porsche is that the Cayman could be better than the 911 if the company just let it, and these GTS models are really, really knocking on that door.

Even if they don’t open said door, the Cayman and Boxster feel like more fun alternatives to the staid and serious 911. They’re cute and playful, like a puppy, where the 911 is solemn, like an old wise owl.

So, what do we get with the GTS package? Fifteen hp to start, thanks to a larger turbocharger and new intake plenum on its 2.5-liter horizontally opposed four. It also comes with 20-inch wheels, the Sport Chrono Package, Porsche Active Suspension Management, and Porsche Torque Vectoring with rear differential lock, sport exhaust and what Porsche calls its Sport Seats Plus. Inside, there’s synthetic suede on the steering wheel, seats, armrests and a few other spots. The GTS models also get 8 lb-ft more torque than the S versions, for a total of 309 lb-ft in the manual version. The PDK automatic comes with 317 lb-ft. That’s good for a 4.4-second sprint with the six-speed manual and a 3.9-second sprint with the seven-speed PDK -- a half-second, for those counting, one of the biggest spreads we’ve seen. Top speed is 180 mph for both.

Porsche called the GTS a value proposition and we chuckled at first, but if you spec’d out an S this way, you would be five grand or so over the out-the-door price of a GTS. There are some options to add though. We threw a few on the build sheet like the $3,730 PDK, the $7,410 ceramic brakes and a few more and brought this car dangerously close to six figures.

The 2018 Porsche 718 Cayman GTS has three seat options, including hard-shelled buckets.

The Execution

Porsche lined up a few Boxster GTS convertibles for canyon drives in the dusty and cool Andalusia area of southern Spain. This part of the world is made for cars like this. We didn’t put the top down -- it was in the low 50s -- but everything about the six-speed-manual-equipped drop-top goads you into taking more speed around that next hard-to-judge mountain sweeper.

It starts with the medium-weighted, synthetic-suede-covered three-spoke steering wheel. Porsche is at the top of the list in the current, electric power steering era for road feel. Its system and those 20-inch Pirelli P-Zeros make for a super-communicative drive as the road goes from rough asphalt to dirt and back to new cement. The slippage in roundabouts is balanced and predictable with the rear tires doing most of the sliding and the fronts coming along for the ride. This car isn’t overpowered though, which means it takes some prodding to get real oversteer. The Boxster feels light and quick to respond. The manual weighs in at 3,032 pounds; the PDK is 3,098 pounds.

The flat four begins to make max torque at 1,900 rpm with a teeny bit of lag coming in first or second gear. Above that you’re shifting so high, at least during spirited driving, any delay is imperceptible. Like the GT350 Mustang and Ferrari 488, this thing revs so high and screams so loud, your brain tells you to shift early. But you need to hold it, hold it, hoooold it, until at least 6,500 where you find max power. The exhaust does seem to drone a bit, but that’s more due to the fact that we were keeping the revs high rather than cruising along in sixth gear.

The clutch pedal is springy and tight, which is exactly how you want it. It isn’t 90’s-era Cobra Mustang tight, but the stroke is short and the engagement is at the midpoint. All GTS models get Sport Chrono, which means normal, sport and sport plus drive modes with different throttle and transmission responses for each. PDK-equipped cars get launch control, as well as the Sport Response button, which turns all settings to max power for 20 seconds.

Hopping into the PDK Cayman GTS at the Ascari Circuit in near Malaga, Spain, there isn’t any change in feel when adding the top. Both cars feel properly stiff in normal mode -- good for the street -- and stiffer in sport and sport plus. That last mode, along with those low-pro P-Zeros, is just a bit too stiff for street driving. It’s a track mode; sport seemed perfect on both.

The huge 26-corner track is about 3.3 miles long with both on- and off-camber turns, sharp esses and a bunch of corners inspired by famous tracks. Pulling out of the pits I stayed to the right approaching The Screw, a long lefty sweeper that requires patience to hit the late apex. A couple of speedy, flowing curves are next followed by a straight and then a hard right-hander. That was where I first planted the brake pedal, which has a little too much travel before scrubbing speed. That caused a split second of panic, but the 13.8-inch ceramic composite discs (front and rear, optional) never fail to stop the one-and-a-half-ton vehicle. Not even close.

The PADM system (Porsche Active Drivetrain Mounts) minimizes engine vibrations and reduces movements that can influence driving dynamics due to the overall weight of the drivetrain. It combines the advantages of hard and soft gearbox mounting: Handling is noticeably more precise and stable under load changes and around fast corners without having to compromise on driving comfort on uneven road surfaces.

While these cars have the seven-speed dual-clutch, that extra play in the pedal would have set it up perfectly for heel-toe downshifts. If the braking power started at the very top of the stroke, it wouldn’t have been possible. The next few curves required a handful of weight transfers and the Carmine red Cayman felt nearly flat, even when it needed a little more steering input to keep it out of the dirt. At near race speed I only experience oversteer a few times, and no understeer, but it never felt out of control or scary.

This might be the perfect amount of horsepower for the weight. The GTS’s output of 365 hp is plenty to overpower the rear wheels in slow, tight corners but even as I pushed the Cayman harder and harder, it felt stable and sharp. Would 400 hp be better? Possibly, but no one will complain about this powertrain. The limit is approachable and enjoyable.

The last sector of the track included a tight chicane that can be straightened with the right approach, and then the Spa corner followed by Petit Eau Rouge and a superfast banked left named Daytona. In that mixing-bowl-style curve there isn’t any amount of speed the GTS can’t handle.

Last thought: Porsche quietly has one of the best color palettes in the business. Sure, the four best ones, lava orange, chalk, Miami blue and Carmine red, are $2,580 options, but every one of those looks spectacular in person.

An optional GTS interior package adds including belt straps, embroidered logos on the headrests and stitching on seats and floor mats in the contrasting colors of Carmine red or chalk.

The Takeaway

Fun to drive on the street? Check. Fun to drive on the track? Check plus. Fun for a road trip? Well, there isn’t a ton of front trunk space, about enough for two bookbags or one carry-on, but it will get 25 mpg (manual), 26 mpg (PDK) on the highway, so that’s something.

Where the 911 feels like a solemn luxury GT, the Cayman and Boxster feel like a more flippant take on one of the purest driving experiences in the business. No, it's not cheap, and buyers expect a lot of capability at the price. They’ll get it. Will it steal sales from Carrera? It’s possible, and I don’t think drivers will complain one bit.